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PITTSTON – Face it. Girls are all about their hair. From picture days to their first dance, young ladies put much time and effort into deciding, “should I put it up or leave it down?,” “braids or ponytail?” “sleek or curly?”
Often, they pose these important questions to their moms, who, with brush and hair accessories in hand, always come through.
But an event at the Pittston Memorial Library last weekend equipped dads not only with a brand new hairbrush and hair supplies, but with a bit of knowledge about the fundamentals of brushing, braiding and creating the perfect bun.
Kathy Masulis, of Pittston, a professional hair stylist for 40 years, assisted at the event, providing 10 fathers, along with their pre-school aged daughters, the pragmatics of hair.
“Often people think that you have to shampoo your children’s hair every day. That’s not necessary. Every two or three days works the best,” Masulis said.
She also had advice about chlorine-saturated hair that surprised attendees.
“You think the hair is dry after coming out of the pool; it’s not. It’s the chlorine,” she said. “A tomato sauce rinse works to remove the chlorine from hair.”
Mark Krokos, of Plains, participated in the event with 4-year-old daughter, Ella.
Although Krokos had delved into the realm of styling his daughter’s hair a bit previous to the class, he said it had been limited to “mostly piggies and ponies.”
On this day, he styled Ella’s hair with ease, finishing an up-do with a bobbie pin and a smile.
Linda Graham, of Mountaintop, heard about the event on Facebook.
She looked on as husband, Bernie, carefully ran a “no tangle” brush through his daughter Renee’s hair.
Renee, 3, is already involved in ballet and gymnastics and is often required to put her hair up in a secure bun.
“But most days,” Linda said, “she just needs to keep it out of her face.”
As Bernie practiced a small braid running down the side of his daughter’s hair, he seemed to be learning how to do just that.
The event was the brainchild of Patricia Joyce, executive director of the library, who said there was a point when, “my 4-year-old didn’t even want to look at a hair brush.”
Since her mother and aunt are both professional hairdressers, Joyce thought the program was a perfect fit for a holiday weekend, not only to teach dads new hair skills, but to provide opportunity for “dad/daughter bonding.”
Charles Falcone, of Dallas, approached the class with both grace and focus as he expertly inserted a bobby pin into his 3-year-old daughter Lena’s hair to hold her bun.
Mom Sarah Falcone said she couldn’t resist coming, even if it was to quietly look on and snap pictures.
An added benefit to the Falcones’ Saturday outing — Charles will be ready to jump and style his daughter Sophia’s hair when she’s ready.
“She’s only nine months and doesn’t really have enough hair to style yet,” said Sarah Falcone. “But it’s growing.”
Library staff member Karen Caton said the class was one of a series based on “thinking out of the box.”
“We try to respond to the interests of our patrons,” she said. “This was a great opportunity to do that.”
